Netherlands Drop Final World Cup Roster | OneFootball

Earlier this week, Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman called six players into a mini-camp to help him settle the squad for the FIFA World Cup. It didn’t take him long to make his decisions, and he dropped the final roster just before the weekend.

The Netherlands produces prodigious talent, and picking 26 players from a pool that numbers over 50 qualified candidates is among the toughest tasks a Dutch manager has to make. Outside of answering to the notoriously finicky Dutch soccer supporter, or rabid press pool.

Expectations for the Netherlands are always high. The country has appeared in three World Cup finals (1974, 1978, 2010) but lost them all. Many consider them to be the best soccer-playing nation to have never won it.

It won’t be easy for Oranje, as they’ve drawn one of the “Groups of Death.” Their group stage will feature matches against Japan (June 14), Sweden (June 20), and Tunisia (June 25).

Who’s In

Team captain Virgil van Dijk’s selection was as automatic as breathing. There are few players as talismanic for a national team as the towering center back. He is not the most-capped player, however. That honor goes to Memphis Depay, with 108 appearances for the Dutch, in what will be his third World Cup nod.

There are two debutantes receiving their first ever call-ups. Goalkeeper Robin Roefs, whose season with Sunderland was simply outstanding, provides a brilliant third-string option (and he may even leap into the back-up spot behind Bart Verbruggen). Crysencio Summerville was an eye-opening and somewhat unexpected choice. The winger is fully recovered from a calf injury sustained in March, and had a strong run of form in West Ham’s ultimately doomed effort to stay up in the Premier League.

Who’s Out

The rest of the side will feature familiar names from all of Europe’s top teams, but there were some notable omissions. Liverpool’s Jeremie Frimpong will not appear on the right side;  Koeman went with Brighton’s Mats Wieffer and Inter’s Denzel Dumfries. On the opposite side, Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen was omitted in favor of a rotating trio: Jorrel Hato, Jurriën Timber and veteran Nathan Aké.

The Full Roster

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